


A Date with Death

by GreenestApple



Category: Formula 1 RPF, Rush (2013)
Genre: Angst, Budding Love, Character Death, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 11:04:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7046857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenestApple/pseuds/GreenestApple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James has horrible nightmares about Niki crashing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Date with Death

**Author's Note:**

> Some people seemed to like my first fic, so i decided to continue writing, yay! Be warned that there's a few graphic depictions of gore and death in here. Also the usual disclaimer stuff, don't own the characters and none of this ever happened etc. I managed to write this in the span of just 12 hours so some mistakes are bound to have happened, not to mention that English is not my first language and this is unbetaed, so i'm sorry for all factual/grammatical mistakes. This is set some time during the 1976 season, but before Nürburgring. Hope you like it!

There was a burning car on the side of the track, it's left half blown to bits by the impact with the railing. James felt something dark and heavy bloom in the pit of his stomach as he slowed his car to a halt some way away, unbuckling his seat bealt with trembling hands and jumping from the driver's seat, feeling like his body was being dragged towards the ground by something more than gravity. He could see the fire marshals running towards the car and so he began to sprint closer as well even though it was like his legs were working against him, making him stumble and falter.

Then he heard it, the screams, the unending wailing of the driver. He willed his legs to carry him to the side of the car, dread clawing at his chest, panic pressing its nails into his brain as he was finally able to make out the curved letters in the paint.

"Niki!" He cried, instantly hurrying closer. He was unable to draw breath in the thick smoke, yet he dove deeper into the flames, his hands fumbling for the seat belt buckles. He couldn't see anything, the thick smog filled his helmet and he could feel the fire licking at his overalls, the heat was unbearable and his whole body protested his efforts, but this was Niki! James would not let him die! He couldn't die!

James was practically lying on top of the car, trying desperately to get the buckle undone, but he simply couldn't find it. His deprived lungs drew breath on instinct, filling them with smoke and intantly he could feel the comforting blackness of unconsciousness creeping up on him, pulling him into the darkness, but he fought against it with every fiber of his being. The sound of Niki's anguished screaming kept him awake and tearing at Niki's body to get him out of the wreckage, to save him, but the seat belt would not give away. Niki's hands were on his, shaking and trying to pull him closer and James tried to say something, to reassure Niki that everything was going to be alright, but the smoke was suffocating and no words came out.

Then someone's hands were on his waist, pulling him forcefully away from the flames and he tried to shout at them to stop, to leave him, but the grip only tightened and he could feel himself slipping away from Niki. A gust of wind blew the smoke away for only a second and he could see Niki's blue eyes staring at him from inside the helmet, blown wide from the pain and pleading with him to help and James cried out for him, reaching with his hand before he was pulled to the ground.

"You can't help him." Someone said to him and he swung out with his fist at them, trying to get back up, but he was being held down by someone stronger than him. The fire roared on, untameable even as the fire marshals fixed their extinguishers on it and it was suddenly so quiet, only the sound of the flames to be heard. James felt like his heart was being crushed inside his chest and suddenly he was dragged up violently.

He bolted up, heaving for breath. The room was dim, the only light leaking in from between the curtains and he covered his face with his hands, drawing one shuddering breath after another. James didn't usually dream when he slept, but this time the nightmare was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

"Fuck," he whispered to the empty room, bringing himself to stand up and get a glass of water. Standing there in the small kitchen of the hotel room he still couldn't shake the strange feeling of urgency. The feeling that Niki was in danger and how weird was that? He really shouldn't be worrying about the safety of other drivers because that was a one way street, he would never stop worrying if he started. Yet, Niki wasn't just any other driver. For a brief moment he debated going to Niki's room to talk about the dream, but deeming it stupid he decided to simply go back to sleep. Besides, Niki would probably have punched him for waking him up in the middle of the night before a race.

~

The race was stopped. James drove back to the pits and rose from his car, frustrated at not being able to finish a race that had started very promisingly.

"So what's going on?" He asked from the technicians, but they only stared back at him bleakly.

"What? What's happened?" He insisted, starting to feel that something was very wrong.

"There's been a crash," one of the pit crew explained, avoiding eye contact and James wanted to shake the man to snap him out of it.

"Yes, obviously, who was it? How bad?" He kept on inquiring even though he had the sudden sensation of not really wanting to know.

"Lauda, in the second corner. I heard it's not good." Before the man had finished his sentence James was already running, tearing through the pits and down the track to where the accident was. There was no smoke, which made him feel hopeful, but what bewildered him was that there were no sounds of rescue vehicles either. If there had been a big crash, surely an ambulance should be in place.

He turned the first corner and could see the commotion a hundred or so feet up the road, sprinting as fast as his legs would carry him towards it. He couldn't see an ambulance or any fire extinguishers, maybe the crash had been so mild that there was no need for them, he thought hopefully, but as he got closer his optimism started to fade. Some drivers and marshals were huddled around what he assumed was Niki's car, but his view was blocked. He realised then that the car was on the other side of the railing and his heart started to beat viciously against his rib cage.

"Is he okay?" He asked from the first person he could reach, completely out of breath. Even though he hadn't run that far his body seemed to be exhausted.

"James, i don't think you should be here," they said, sounding familiar but at that moment James couldn't concentrate enough to fully understand who he was talking to.

"What do you mean? Where's Niki?" He said in a way that even to his own ears sounded derailed, but he couldn't have cared less.

"He's still in the car, but i don't think you should-.."

James pushed past the man and approached the car. The people turned to face him and the expressions on their faces should've been enough to make him turn back, and he wanted to, he wanted to walk away and not see whatever it was that would greet him, but his legs moved forward regardless. The first thing he saw was that the railing was broken, its edges bent and jutting sharply. Niki's car was partly on its side, its shape completely ruined as various parts were missing and the beautiful paint was marred. He must've had a lot of speed when he'd lost control. The ground was littered with pieces of the car and amidst them James could also see blood and some kind of obscure lumps that he didn't want to think further on.

A track marshal was busying himself near the cockpit of the car and James approached him with lead in his feet, everything inside him telling him not to go closer, but he couldn't help himself. The man turned then and gave him a weary look.

"Look son, you probably don't need to see this," he said weakly, but James had already pushed him aside. What he saw then, he was sure he would never forget

Niki's body hung limply from the seat belt still holding him in place, his helmet blown off from the impact of the crash and when James looked closer, it seemed as if a piece of his head was missing. Half of the cockpit was torn open, probably by the railing, having also taken with it almost the entirety of Niki's left arm and some of the rib cage below it, leaving only a gaping hole where his heart probably should have been. Niki's eyes stared lifelessly ahead of him as blood and intestines slowly dripped from his mangled corpse and painted the grass below a startling red. James was on his knees retching before he realised it, holding his stomach as he cried.

"Oh god, oh my god, why didn't you help him, why is no one doing anything for fuck's sake, please!" He rambled and only received grim looks from the other people gathered there.

"Can't you see that there was nothing to be done, he was dead on impact." The nearest marshal explained, coming over to put his hand on James' shoulder.

"No, no, no, no! This isn't happening! This can't be happening!" He wailed and suddenly the hand on his shoulder was shaking him vigorously, the sight of Niki's dead body fading into nothingness.

"James!" He startled, snapping his eyes open to see Jochen staring at him curiously and it took him a second to realise he'd only been dreaming.

"You were making quite the ruckus there, good dream, huh?" His teammate said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively in the strangest display James had seen in a while.

"You know I do dream about other things besides sex," James said sleepily, straightening his back and moving to get up from the lumpy couch. He was glad that Mass didn't really know him that well, because otherwise he would probably have noticed just how shaken he was.

"I should hope so, since you were moaning the name of a certain Austrian driver," Jochen said with a sly grin on his face, "I just assumed you were having an orgasmic dream about beating him on the track and whatnot," he continued innocently, grinning as he went back to reading the magazine he had spread out on the table in front of him.

"Oh, was I? Odd," James mused, smoothing his hair back from its sleep-ridden state and hoping that his face wasn't as red as it felt, "so, are they ready with the cars yet?" He asked, changing the subject and trying very hard to not think about the nightmare he'd just had, even though the image of the accident seemed to be edged into his mind.

"No, should be a while still," Jochen replied, seeming very enthralled by whatever it was he was reading.

"Right, come find me when they're finished then," James said, walking out of the garage and into the pit-lane, needing some fresh air into his lungs.

One time he would have chalked up to not sleeping well and smoking funny things, but having a dream about Niki's death twice in the span of just 24 hours he couldn't simply ignore anymore. James wasn't a superstitious man, but those dreams had really left him with a distressing feeling that something would happen to Niki, maybe at this very race. Then again he was almost sure that he was being just a complete idiot by thinking like that, but the feeling would not leave him, it was gnawing at his mind, ordering him to do something.

He found himself walking towards the Ferrari garage, completely unsure as to what he would do once he got there, but certain that he needed to free himself of the burden those dreams had bestowed upon him. Entering the garage he couldn't see Niki anywhere, only his tech-people buzzing about.

"Is Niki here?" He asked one of the mechanics, who turned towards him with a sceptical expression.

"I don't think you're allowed in here," the mechanic told him, eyeing his McLaren overalls with distrust.

"Come on, what harm am I possibly going to do?"

"I don't know, steal our blueprints, poison our driver, that sort of thing," the man replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, have a little faith will you, I'm not interested in playing dirty, unlike you lot," James said with a smile, but the mechanic seemed unconvinced.

"I don't think Niki would benefit from talking to you before the race, so just forget it."

James sighed, uninterested in starting a fight so he strolled his way to the railing on the opposite side of the pit-lane and sat down against it, hoping that maybe Niki would wander out by himself before the race was to start. 

He had seen his fair share of nightmares in his life, most of them when he was a child, but nothing had ever been this vivid and terrifying before. Just knowing that everytime they got into their cars there was a very real chance of the things he had dreamt of actually happening was upsetting enough, but it also made him realise that he'd never really imagined that it could happen to Niki. Niki who was so careful and focused all the time, how could he ever crash?

It also made James wonder what he would do if Niki crashed? If he died. What would his life be without the rat-faced Austrian always pressing his buttons and forcing him to work harder than he'd ever worked before? The answer seemed so clear to him right then, he knew he would never become world champion without Niki, but that he would also not enjoy his life half as much as he did now. The realisation both frightened and excited him. 

He looked to the blue sky, elated that the weather would at least not pose any additional risks today, but at the same time he was starting to feel anxious. He really wanted to see Niki before the race. As minutes started to tick by, he began fiddling with his sleeves, wanting more and more to just barge past all the Ferrari assholes into the garage to find Niki, but knowing at the same time that that was a really bad idea. So he decided to stay put, closing his eyes to enjoy the sun on his face, but thankfully it wasn't long before a shadow emerged to block the light.

"Hunt, what are you doing?" James opened his eyes to see Niki looming over him with huge sunglasses on his face, his hands placed on his hips and James couldn't stop himself from beaming up at him.

"Sunbathing?" James said, trying hard to keep the joy he was experiencing in check. He hadn't realised seeing Niki alive and well would feel quite this good.

"Not the ideal place for that, I should think," Niki replied blankly, gesturing vaguely around him.

"Well you're not wrong, but the view is very good at least," James said, flashing a charming smile which made Niki cross his hands over his chest, looking down at James disapprovingly.

"So you just came here to try and wind me up, did you?"

"Oh, don't be like that, love. Here, have a seat," James offered, actually expecting Niki to refuse since he usually had a lot to do before the race, unlike James who trusted his mechanics to handle everything when it came to his car. To his surprise, Niki gave a brief look over his shoulder at the garage, but then walked over to sit on the asphalt right beside him.

"If you're trying to distract me from the race, it won't work," Niki said in a matter-of-fact tone, pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head and leaning back to let the sun hit his face, eyes closed in a serene expression. James wanted to laugh and say that that was the farthest thing from his mind.

"I know," he said instead, smiling and being unable to tear his eyes away from the other driver, who was just so wonderfully alive and close to him. Still the dread was nagging at him from somewhere deep within his mind, the horrible images pushing through until he could see them again in front of him. The flames. The blood.

"You'll drive safely today, won't you?" James blurted out suddenly, cursing himself internally because he wasn't supposed to say that to his rival, it sounded wrong. Niki turned to look at him strangely, as if trying to judge his intentions.

"If you're asking me to drive slower, then no," Niki said, but kept looking at him in that calculating way of his, "what is this James?" He asked, seeming genuinely puzzled and James sighed, turning to look him in the eyes.

"I just had this very strange feeling that you were going to crash today," he said, trying to sound as honest as he could so Niki wouldn't think that he was just trying to play games with him. Niki frowned back at him, trying to determine whether James was indeed just trying to confuse him before the race, but the look on the other driver's face was far from jestful.

"I can't promise you that I won't crash, you know that," Niki said, seeming to still be very confused by the direction the conversation had taken.

"Yes, I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," James said pensively, looking just about the gloomiest that Niki had ever seen him, which in turn made him worry for the other driver.

"I will try my best not to crash today, but you will have to promise me the same thing, then we will be even," Niki said, frown even deeper now, unsure if this was the answer James was looking for, but judging by the slightly amused smile on James' face when he turned back to look at him again, Niki was sure that he'd made the right call.

"Alright, deal," James said, feeling as if a heavy load had been lifted from his heart, even though he knew that words were only words and meant very little when they were actually out on the track. Because when it came down to it, they were both willing to risk their lives to win.

"Thank you, Niki," James said, tilting his head back to resume his sunbathing. His right hand almost absentmindedly latched onto Niki's left and pulled it between their bodies, where he could hold Niki's palm safely away from anyone's sight. Since there was no protest from the other driver, they held hands until the call came for them to get in their cars.

**Author's Note:**

> I tagged Rush in here even though i myself really don't think about the actors at all when i'm imagining this, but that's just a preference of course. Oh and sorry about the cheesy title haha, couldn't help myself.


End file.
